It is ecologically unacceptable to release halogenated hydrocarbons into the atmosphere or into public waters. Among the methods used in attempts to abate such pollution has been combustion (thermal oxidation) of the halogenated hydrocarbons in bricklined furnaces or other refractory furnaces. There have been some attempts to extract some of the heat values and chemical values by heatexchange and aqueous scrubbing of the combustion gases which are emitted from the refractory furnace.
It is the field of thermal oxidation of halogenated hydrocarbons to which the present invention most closely pertains. More precisely, the invention pertains to thermally oxidizing halogenated hydrocarbons in such a manner that the heat of combustion and the halogen values in the combustion product are recovered, thus salvaging valuable energy and chemical values.
It is an object of the present invention to provide for improved disposal of halogenated hydrocarbons by employing thermal oxidation.
It is a further object to provide for combusting of halogenated hydrocarbons in such a manner that pollution of public waters and the atmosphere is abated.
It is also an object to provide for combusting of halogenated hydrocarbons in such a manner that valuable energy and chemical values are recovered.
Another object is to provide a horizontal fire-tube boiler which has been modified so as to withstand the highly corrosive gases from the thermal oxidation of halogenated hydrocarbons for extended periods of time.
These, and other objects, are attained by performing the combustion (thermal oxidation) of halogenated hydrocarbons in accordance with the present invention.